Four
Tips For Handling Spiritual Stress By Aila
Accad
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A
loss of life purpose or challenge to personal identity stresses the human
spirit.
How you define who you are, and the meaning and purpose of
life is core to the health of your spirit. You experience spiritual stress when
these definitions are challenged or unclear. The human spirit asks, "Who am I",
"What is life about" and "What is my purpose"?
These questions peak
at times of significant life change or loss as in the identity challenges of
adolescence and mid-life or loss of a child, spouse, job or body
part.
Attaching identity and purpose to variables outside your
control makes you vulnerable to spiritual stress.
Here are four
tips to de-stress your spirit.
Tip # 1 ~ Connect with Self. Look
deep into your eyes in a mirror. Contemplate. Who is looking? Realize the same
awareness inside of you today has been there from the beginning of your life.
There is a steady, abiding Self that does not change with the changes in your
body, emotions or thoughts. This invulnerable core is a foundation for inner
strength and support.
Why it works ~ When you are not dependent on
outer conditions to define yourself, you feel free. The outer world is
constantly changing and undependable. Your inner being is solid, grounded in
reality and invulnerable to attack by others. Viktor Frankl describes this
beautifully in "Man's Search for Meaning".
Tip # 2 ~ Connect with
the moment. Feel the water on your hands as you wash them. Notice the specific
way you wash them, the slipperiness of the soap, the temperature of the water.
Feel your feet on the ground, notice the sights, sounds and smells around
you.
Feeling your experience in the moment is a practice in being
present and helps you connect with life in a deep and meaningful way. Set an
intention at the beginning of your day to stop and be present frequently. You
will find this practice reduces stress by increasing awareness and meaning in
each moment.
Why it works ~ Connecting to the present moment
centers, relaxes and enlivens your life experience. You are not ruminating about
the past or worrying about the future, which are stressful. The insight,
knowledge and experience of this moment is available to you. Stress decreases
when you have a sense of control within yourself.
Tip # 3 ~ Connect
with your purpose. How do you know what is important to you? You feel it. Notice
the small voice or sense of knowing inside when something is attracting you.
Your body alerts you to what is dangerous or attractive long before your minds
can explain why. Pay attention to those cues. This is your intuition, or sixth
sense. Your deepest values and purpose are not in your head, but in your heart.
What does your heart respond to; what touches your spirit? Purpose is the force
that energizes. It inspires you to get up in the morning. What excites your
passion for life?
Why it works ~ When your inner promptings guide
you, you cannot make a mistake. These are signs that lead to your truest desires
and lasting happiness. Joseph Campbell, the great mythologist says, "Follow your
bliss". When you follow your true path or calling, you are invigorated rather
than stressed.
Tip # 4 ~ Connect with nature. You are part of a
larger cosmos. You are not isolated as the boundaries of your body suggest.
Whether you look at life from a religious, spiritual or scientific perspective,
what you think and feel affects the environment and the environment affects you.
Spending time in nature reconnects you to your natural rhythms. It is easy to
lose your center when attending to other people, television, computer, shopping,
and so on constantly captures your attention. Taking time every day to be quiet
in a natural setting, reflecting, journaling, or just being present can bring
you back to yourself. When you take a break or before going home at the end of
the workday, take a moment to smell a flower, watch the river flow by, or
appreciate a tree.
Why it works~ Earth vibrates at a certain
frequency. Spending time in nature synchronizes our vibrations to the natural
vibrations that support us. Closed up in hermetically sealed buildings with
florescent lighting and re-circulating air all day can cause a loss of balance
and connection with your self and your natural rhythms.
Spiritual
stress results from the loss of connection to your true self, values, purpose
and nature. Taking time every day to re-connect with these aspects of your life
reduces stress and supports happiness, security and
connection.
About the Author
Aila Accad, RN, MSN 'The De-Stress
Expert' is a Speaker, Author and Transformation Coach. Contact her for speaking,
and transformational coaching at: http://www.ailaspeaks.com.
Sign up for the complimentary De-Stress Tips Newsletter and "Ten Instant Stress
Busters" e-book. Read more articles at http://www.ailaspeaks.com/articles.html
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